Gorno-Badakhshan has more than 10,000 petroglyphs and
pictographs, several dating from the late paleolithic period
(8,000 BCE). Most are (fortunately for their preservation) some distance
from the main roads and many villagers are unaware of their presence. (The
pictures below illustrate what can happen when unthinking local people
deface a rock exhibiting petroglyphs.)

Until funds are available for recording, analysing and dating
(and, not least, protecting) them, the photographs below
(kindly provided by Markus Hauser and Vatani Alidodov) are intended only
as a first indicator of this cultural and historical wealth and as an incentive
to the serious traveller in the Pamirs (are there any others just yet?) to explore further.

A petroglyph is an image engraved on a rock. A pictograph is an image painted on a rock.